Railroad cattle guard



SePf- 23, 1930' T. F. DoYLE RAILROAD CATTLE GUARD Filed sept. 23, 1929 lf/Vf roe Hof-ms @anc/:Do v1.5

NLT f H-rronulv Patented sept. 23, 1930 @PATENT oil-luce VTHQlltllh''IEIPaZ-LNCIS DOYLE, 0F NACO, ARIZONA, ASSIGNOR TOFAIRBANKDOYLE COM- noYLn e kQIANY, A' COPARTNERSHIP CONSISTING OF'VCHAROLD S. FAIRBANK AND THOMAS F.

- -RAiLRoAD CATTLE GUARD Application led September 23, 1,929. Seriali No.` 394,614.

The hereinafter described rinvention deals with'cattle guards for railroadright-of-ways. The railroad companies are in constant fear ,of derailing and wrecking fast moving trains by hitting rstray cattle 'that y,have wandered onto the railroad rightofways. This is particularly true of passenger trains and express trains. i 1 y Y Inv order to guard againstthis possibility, the railroad companies, when passing through cattle country, build i'ight-of-way fences on bothsides of the tracks to keep back the i stock; and Where highways or roadways A intersect the right-of-way, cattle Vguards are built into the tracksto prevent cattle entering onto the righteof-iway and becoming a Y menace. This would appear to be sufficient,

but the'fact is that certain precocious cattle do cross over such cattle guards, and it 1s ythese cattle that cause train wrecks.

Briefly stated, my invention consists inr iusinglprepared animal hides, preferably with vio the hair side up, to cover all parts of a cattle guard where the animal in passing over the guard would have to tread. This has been found to stop cattle and stock from crossing over' the guard. Y

I do not attempt to expound any theory nor setr forth any reasons for the above, but I do state that in actual practice, this type of guard has proven highly satisfactory, and

'l that it lhasfbcen satisfactorily demonstrated thata cattle guard so formed will operate tov stop cattle from passing overthe same.v

Other objects and advantages will become apparent in a detailed 'description when read in vconjunction with the drawings in which l Fig. 1 is a plan view of a standard railroad In the drawings whichIyhave chosen to taken on line `illustrate my invention, a cattle guard vof standard construction is used. It .will be understood that any' type .of'guard maybe used, and `that my invention, with slight modifications, may bel incorporatedtherewith.,l y i y The type of guard shown comprises sloping side barriers A and B formed in any suitable inannerconforming with the practice of theindividual railroad company. Between the side barriers A and B there is a substantiallyfiat surface ,C left for the roadbed of ythe railroad. Ink this [flat surface C the rails turn placed inthe ballast 13 that forms the roadbed of the railroad. As best yshown in Fig. 2,y side posts 111y are placed beyond the `ends of the ties'12 and have extending members 15 that arey suitably .attached to the barriers A and B, respectively.. It is to be understood thatthere are two posts 14 on each side of the track and that a longitudinal member 16 running from post to post and paralleling the Arails is employed to support one edge of 'a board, or any other suitable supporting member 17 the other edge of the board 17 resting' upon4 the ends of the ties l2.

rIhestructurejust recitedis old and does :not enter into the invention only in so far as it forms the means'of supporting myv invention. f

1In conjunction with theforegoing recited structure, my invention provides animal hides affixed to the upper surface of the boards 17. They meansv of attaching vthese hides to the boards 17 maybe of any optional construction, but in this instance is shown as comprising cleats 19, laid on top yof the hides 18, preferably' around the periphery thereof, and attached to the boards 17 by nailing or by means' of otherl suitable expedients.

As before stated, it'hasbeen found to bel 'preferable to mount the hides with the hair side'up. However, I do not wish to restrict my inventionto this particulary arrangement inasmuch as it has been found thatthe hides will be effective if placed in the reversed position.

In the illustrations,I have shown the space between the rails as divided by a partition 1ne1'nber20. VVrllhis structure is for thepurpose of economy, and will be recognized as provid- .ing space wherein boards of osubstantially"v equal widths may be used, thus reducing the structnre to an arrangement wherein units maybe utilized; Itis evident that the boards`l 17 when employed between the rails lie directs.

Y ly uponY the ties 12 and are affixed thereto by nailing or in any other suitable manner. Itis also obvious that a single piece could ber used between the rails and the effect would be the Y Same.

' v`The foregoing arrangement is'seen to projvide a guard wherein all the portions that are available for cattle tov-tread in passing over theguard are substantially covered-by anif While I havefound that cattle Inal hides. hidesy give excellent results, I do not wish to'` coniinemy invention ,to cattle hides but intend f i this disclosureto include all animal hides. Moreover, I ainaware thatk certain modificarails; and a covering for the. surface adj acenty the outer edge of the rails, said covering con# Vsisting ofanimal hides withY the hair side up# wardly exposed.. y

therebetween g, a covering for said level sur-V 7. In Vatrailroad cattle Vguard having vsideVL barriers and a-:fsub'stantially .level surface face, said coveringconsisting of animal hides 1 securelyy fixed in place;

f In testimony whereof, Ihave hereunto set my hand atPhoeniX,Arizona,this 17fda`yfof` 75 Sept.,'192`9. Y Y' ,Y v l f. VTHOMAS FRANCIS DOYLE tions in the nature of refinement and changes Y 1n structure may be resortedl to without in any way departing from thel efectivenessof my invention. I, therefore, intend that this d isclosure shall include all such modifications and alterations, particularly inthe nature of the hides used, that do not depart from' the f Y scope ofthe specification and the essence of edge of the rails, said coverings consisting of animal hides.

3. In a railroad cattlevguard having a sub- Y' stantiallyv flatsurface on each sideof the rails a covering for cattle hides.

said surface consisting of 4. In a railroad. guard having a substantiallyflat surface between thera-ils and adj acent the outer edge of the rails: a covering for the surface between the. rails; and a covering for the surface adjacent-the outer yedge of the railssaid coveringA consisting ofV cattle hides. i 5. In a railroad cattle guard having a substantially flat surface Y on. each side of the rails: a coveringfor'said surface, said rcovering consisting of animal hides with the hair side upwardly exposed. Y Y e 6.' Ina railroad cattle guard havinga substantially flatsurface onV each side of the rails activering for the isurface,between the 

